The Iowa State Cyclones may have been the Oklahoma Sooners' first major test in the postseason. Oklahoma went into the half up six points on Iowa State and outlasted their opponents in the second half to win 79-76.
Oklahoma did not have an answer for Iowa's State's senior forward Georges Niang, who scored 31 and pulled down seven rebounds. Fortunately for Oklahoma, its opponent could not stop senior guard Buddy Hield, who scored 39 and grabbed nine rebounds.
Both Hield and Niang are playing in their final collegiate basketball postseasons, and both will certainly continue playing in the NCAA Tournament after the Big 12 Championship. The difference Thursday night in Kansas City was the performance of players not named Hield or Niang.
Iowa State guard Deonte Durton came off the bench to score 12 points and grab nine rebounds, contributing three assists and a steal as well. Iowa State also got six combined three-pointers from Abdel Nader and Matt Thomas.
Not even Hield was hitting long-range shots, but Oklahoma shot 76 percent from the free-throw line on 25 attempts, whereas Iowa State only took 10 free throws and made six. Oklahoma did not get the same bench production as Iowa State, though Ryan Spangler and Isaiah Cousins combined to score 20 points and have 21 rebounds.
Oklahoma continues its pursuit of an NCAA Tournament one seed in the Big 12 semifinals against West Virginia. The Mountaineers are coming off a win over TCU. The winner of that game will take on either Kansas or Baylor for the conference championship, and if it's Oklahoma against Kansas, the winner could well lock up an NCAA one-seed.
Hield has dominated the player-of-the-year conversation for both the Big 12 and the nation, but Niang has been just about as important to the conference.
"It was fun competing against him," Hield said after the game. "He's such a good competitor. He's a tough matchup to guard. He uses his body so well. Going against guys like Niang is fun."
As two of the Big 12's leaders over the last four years, Hield and Niang have developed a friendship and a mutual respect for one another.
"From a friendship standpoint, I'm happy to say he's my friend and I'm proud of him," Niang said, "but from a competitive standpoint, I wish he would have missed a couple more shots."
